The invention relates to the field of saddle pads.
Saddle pads that are laid under saddles of horses have long been known. An example of such a saddle pad was described in the applicant's German Patent DE 101 38 317 B4. This saddle pad includes two panels that are connected to one another via a web. The panels are provided with a covering of lambskin or wool fleece on the side facing toward the riding animal. A recess in the shape of a longitudinal groove is worked into the web in that no such covering is provided there. By virtue of the groove-like recess, the saddle pad does not rest on the spine of the riding animal but rather on the flanks of the riding animal. For this reason no pressure is exerted on the spine from above. Instead, the weight of the rider seated on a saddle is distributed onto the flanks of the riding animal in large-area fashion via the panels of the saddlecloth.
Another saddle pad is known from WO 90/00518. There the saddle pad has, on its top side facing toward the saddle, two pockets into each of which wooden-ball mats are inserted. These wooden-ball mats are supposed to massage the back of the riding animal during riding.
For optimally distributing the pressure when the riding animal is being ridden and for stabilizing the rider, both known saddle pads require saddles into which a so-called saddletree is integrated. The term saddletree refers to a relatively rigid plastic or wood frame that is built into the saddle for stabilization. The pressure load during riding of the horse is broadly distributed via such treed saddles.
Problematic, however, are so-called treeless saddles, that is, relatively flexible saddles that exhibit in themselves no or almost no stability. Such saddles are often made from fabric or plastic. Such treeless saddles require saddle pads that better distribute the pressure load when the riding animal is being ridden.
A saddle pad in which an improved pressure distribution is achieved when the riding animal is being ridden is described for example in DE 101 33 751 A1. In a first embodiment of the saddle pad, the latter comprises a foamable plate-shaped shell, which takes on a fixed shape in the cured condition. The foamable material is introduced, for example molded, injected or the like, into a film-like shell acting as a mold, which represents a restraint for the not yet foamed, viscous or deformable plastic material, in order to avoid softening of the foamed material in the uncured state. In the fitting of this saddle pad, the latter is placed between the riding saddle and the horse's back. When the saddle is laid on the horse's back, the weight of the saddle and of the rider is imposed on the saddle pad having the not yet cured foamable material. The weight of the saddle and of the rider transmits this load via the saddle pad to the horse's back. Thus the soft, viscous or deformable, uncured plastic material located inside the saddle pad is deformed in accordance with the load exerted by the saddle and by the rider, the contour of the bottom side of the saddle being imparted to the top side of the saddle pad while at the same time the deformable plastic material on the bottom side adapts exactly to the contour of the horse's back. In the uncured condition, an impression of the bottom side of the saddle and of the horse's back is formed on both surfaces of the saddle pad. Subsequently, the self-curing plastic material of the saddle pad is cured, the stated impression shape on both sides being retained. In this way the saddle pad holds this shape permanently.
In a second embodiment of DE 101 33 751 A1, the saddle pad comprises a plate of plastic or foamed material into which recesses are machined at certain critical places. The curable material is introduced into these recesses. The saddle pad is then fitted to the horse's back, as described above, by laying it on the horse's back and placing a saddle with rider thereon.
What is problematic in these known saddle pads is the use of a curable material within the saddle pad. If, for example, the musculature of the horse changes, as it can solely through the aging process of a horse, a saddle pad fitted in this way may become no longer serviceable under some circumstances. In addition, the saddle pad once so fabricated is fitted only for a quite specific horse.
There is a need for a treeless saddle that is not limited to use for a single riding animal.